A very wet Dustydog!

[Dustydog]

In an internet cafe on Isle of Mull.

10 solid days of heavy rainfall. A real bummer.

Never saw Trucker because my N/S rear wheel nuts fell off 10 miles out of North Ledaig!!

I can't believe it happened but will tell more when I get back in October.

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Hi we spent 5 weeks in similar conditions north of the border one year--couldn't get out of the van for 3 days at one point for torrential rain

Sorry to here about your loss of wheel --it happened to us after a similar mileage last year and the bolt torque was checked the night before

Never saw the wheel again

 

[602]

Hi,

I was driving down the M20 when I saw a bloke walking down the hard shoulder on the other carriageway, carrying a wheel. I stopped to offer him a lift. (This was probably 1969ish, so quite safe ....... no cameras).

He climbs into my car, and off we go.

"Puncture?" I asked him.

"No, the wheel came off." he replied.

"Er ..... so where is your car?"

"About two miles down the road."

602

 

[WatsonJohnG]

25 years ago I came across a van minus wheel at the roadside and stopped to help

Ever since then with a fanatical zeal I have checked my wheel bolts before every trip

I have even previously fitted Alloy wheels so as to have the bolts easily accessible without the need to remove wheel trims

Yet last year I was caught out as posted above--wheel came off and disappeared

The van had been moved across the drive ready for setting off next morning and bolts were checked before moving and after moving with a torque wrench

I now check before setting off just in case any tampering should go on overnight!

 

[Rabfaetheblae]

Sorry to hear about the weather and the wheel, i recently spent a week on a site called Killegruer, on the kyntyre Peninsula

the views were stunning..and one of the cheapest at 10 pound a night.

 

[Dustydog]

Never go to the Scottish Highlands in August! Nothing but rain for the last two weeks. Now at Resipole Farm, a private site on Loch Sunnart. First class and they are trialling foc a wi fi system.

10 days before we left I had two new tyres fitted at home by E-Tyres whom I have used before. Excellent service and price.

I actually watched the guy torque up the wheel nuts and double check them. Also his invoice said I had to retorque them myself within 100 miles I think, may have been 50.

Well I didn't recheck and was lucky not to lose the whole wheel.

The mechanic at North Ledaig reckoned he had seen this problem quite a few times.

Mostly alloy wheels.

Mostly after having new tyres fitted and nuts not retorqued.

He thinks it's because of the corrosion between the steel hub and alloy wheel that initially gives a false reading on the torque wrench.

Anyway from now on I shall be checking the cars nuts as well as the caravan before each journey.

Sun out now so it proves again to me the only time to do the Highlands is April / may or September / October, for sun.

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[kenneth_374315528]

Couldn't agree with you more. I live in Scotland and do my Scottish Touring in May and September. We always seem to be very lucky and of course you miss the MIDGIES on the West Coast. Ken

 

[Oklahoma]

We were in Gairloch in April and had lovely weather. I agree that April and May are the best

 

[Jo-AnneFairway5402010]

alan, you have put me off scotland rain and midges no thanks

jo

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Don't be put off this

 

[Del_374232870]

Part of my tool kit is a torque wrench, check the nuts before each trip.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Same here but I checked mine the night before,moved the van across the drive ready for off the next morning and rechecked the torque even getting out the locking wheel bolt key etc

I had the torque wrench ready to recheck after 15 miles as wheels had just been balanced but only got 12 miles when the wheel came off

The other wheel was correctly torqued when checked at the scene of accident

I now check last thing before setting off as I wonder if an attempt was made to remove the Alko wheel clamp by undoing the exposed nuts

In over 30 years I can't remember checking and finding the bolts loose yet it still happened

 

[Chris_374413356]

I can see that losing the odd wheel could be a problem.......

I wonder if 'thread lock' or something similar would prevent such occurances.

 

[GrahamPonty]

Hi Dustydog,

Like you we have just spent a very wet week in West Wales, glad to be back home.

Sorry to hear about your wheel coming loose as well!!! (Please don't take this the wrong way) BUT I TOLD YOU SO in the thread where John had lost his wheel after only 100 miles. I felt I was made to look a bit of a fool, know it all, somebody who was talking through the hole in his rear end. All I was doing was offering a bit of advice from a caravanner with a number of years experence behind him.

I find it strange that none of the other douting Thomas's from that thread have come forward to offer their advice perhaps they are all on ebay buying up the last of the torque wrenches who knows.

Anyway i'm glad no damage was done to your van it could have been a lot worse had the wheel come right off, and i'm pleased to hear you will now check your wheel nuts more often.

Regards

Graham (Ponty)

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Hi Graham

I missed your previous post and if the John you referred to was me then my wheel came off after 12 miles and I had checked with a torque wrench(twice) and it was in the boot to check at 15 miles but I didn't get that far

I would be interested to hear what your point was if you could please repeat it.

Regards

 

[GrahamPonty]

Hi John,

The John I referred to was the OP in the following thread: http://www.practicalcaravan.com/newforums/fm_messages.asp?fo=5&fm=453668

Unfortunatly this John also lost a wheel after only 100 miles, I offered my advice and felt I was made to look a fool by some of the posters on that thread.

Dustydog was a poster on that thread as well as a few others who douted what I was saying about checking the wheel nuts after approximatly 30 miles as I do. As you said yourself you checked the torque of your wheel nuts but they still came loose, some posters on that thread seemed to think that if a wheel was tightened enough it will not come loose unfortunatly they do.

Regards

Graham (Ponty)

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Hi John,

The John I referred to was the OP in the following thread: http://www.practicalcaravan.com/newforums/fm_messages.asp?fo=5&fm=453668

Unfortunatly this John also lost a wheel after only 100 miles, I offered my advice and felt I was made to look a fool by some of the posters on that thread.

Dustydog was a poster on that thread as well as a few others who douted what I was saying about checking the wheel nuts after approximatly 30 miles as I do. As you said yourself you checked the torque of your wheel nuts but they still came loose, some posters on that thread seemed to think that if a wheel was tightened enough it will not come loose unfortunatly they do.

Regards

Graham (Ponty)

Thanks Graham

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Graham now I see why I missed it

We were in France enjoying the sunshine for 5 weeks when you posted

I'm glad that you got a new van

Ours was a none event damage wise

The van landed on the Powrtouch mover and a layby where I had intended to check was 50 yd away

The axle was sent back to Alko and the van was back on the road 6 weeks later.It just happened to be August when we stay at home while the sites are busy

I was really pleased that I was the last person to tighten the wheel bolts so no blame attached to North Staffs Caravans

I suspect that I wasn't the last person to put a spanner on the nuts as an attempt could have been made to remove the wheel and Alko clamp overnight

I was expecting someone to chirp up and say that I hadn't done it right but all my friends said no way would that be the case

We had had a visit from a lady selling doylies the day before and a caravan diagonally across the drive with car fitted with towing mirrors may have loked like an ideal home for the taking

I now check the morning of departure

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Graham now I see why I missed it

We were in France enjoying the sunshine for 5 weeks when you posted

I'm glad that you got a new van

Ours was a none event damage wise

The van landed on the Powrtouch mover and a layby where I had intended to check was 50 yd away

The axle was sent back to Alko and the van was back on the road 6 weeks later.It just happened to be August when we stay at home while the sites are busy

I was really pleased that I was the last person to tighten the wheel bolts so no blame attached to North Staffs Caravans

I suspect that I wasn't the last person to put a spanner on the nuts as an attempt could have been made to remove the wheel and Alko clamp overnight

I was expecting someone to chirp up and say that I hadn't done it right but all my friends said no way would that be the case

We had had a visit from a lady selling doylies the day before and a caravan diagonally across the drive with car fitted with towing mirrors may have loked like an ideal home for the taking

I now check the morning of departure

Should have said John van etc

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Graham

Well you are totally exonerated and indeed I have no problem telling my story.

Unfortunately the last thread didn't really address why the nuts came loose. This is the first time in 40 years it has happened to me especially as I watched the tyre fitter double check the nuts' torque.

Now I'm more cautious i am still not certain why it happened other than the suggestion I have already put forward.

Also I never thought you were a ventiloquist!!LOL.

See Chrisbee's last post on earlier thread. It must be the cleanliness _of the hub, wheel mating surfaces and the nuts that makes the difference.

However , even though I have been a victim, I do find it hard to accept that every driver of every vehicle needs to double check wheel nut torque after a service.

Anyway Graham,Idon't need telling twice . Maybe the whole design of wheel attachment needs readdressing???

Cheers

Dustydog still very wet!

 

[Thorpedo]

On some, perhaps all, larger vehicles (I won't mention HGV's - shhh, I may start somehing) I notice they have what looks like a plastic device which fits accross two wheel nuts and must stop them from being able to rotate on the thread.

I would have thought this a simple and sensible device could be fitted to Caravan wheels.

Does anyone know if such a device is available?

 

[WatsonJohnG]

I think that they indicate if there has been any movement but with the recessed alloys they won't fit as they are now

 

[Dustydog]

The appalling wet weather beat us so we came home early. For once in years we just couldn't wait to leave the Scottish Islands behind!

On the wheel nut front my torque wrench now resides in the car boot and will daylight more often than ever before!

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[Heethers]

Dusty after reading your problem, l checked my wheel nuts after it was serviced, after a 40mile trip re checked the torque on all bolts, yes they took a little more torque.

We took the van up to Scarborough the following week and after a 140-mile trip re checked the torque, which was found to be o/k.

l now carry the torque wrench with me and after every long trip re check the torque settings, up to now they have been o/k.

Maybe someone can answer why.

l was a maintenance engineer and we used to joint harden after boiler and gas turbine shutdowns but this was due to heat, maybe the wheel nuts expand in the same way when driving then contract through cooling, they would need to be retorqued before you drove on them again, only thing l can think of

NigelH